Suppository



"UNITED STATES .PATENT OFFICE.

HARLEY, WESLEY anonnnmnn, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ABBIGNOR :0 mm! nuLILLY am) comrnnv, or mmanaroms, INDIANA, a CORPORATION To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that I, HARLEY RHODEHAMEL a citizen of the United States,

fresiding at Marion and State of'Indiana, have invented Indianapolis, inthe county of useful Suppositories and other new and Consisting ofMedicinal Sub- Products stances Incorporated with an Oil or Fat andProducts-Resulting From the 'Use of Such Method, of which the followingis a specification. I

It is the object of my invention to produce a suppository or similarproduct suitable for,

Suppositories having an oil or a fat for a base must melt at thetemperature of the body with which they come in contact at the time ofadministration. Consequently, they cannot be preserved in any climatewhere the'temperature is as high or higher than the temperature of thebody.

- Various methods have been devised for overcoming this difficulty. Forinstance, empty gelatin capsules of proper shape have been made, intowhich the medicinal ingredients mixed with the oily or fatty base can beplaced. Such capsules have the disadvantage of being very brittle ifmade thin enough to dissolve promptly upon being used,

and unless the same are carefully sealed after being closed, the oil orfat will run out if it becomes melted. I

I have discovered that I can overcome these objections by dippingsuppositories into a solution of gelatin whichforms a continuouscoating, thus eliminating the possibility of leakage. This gelatinsolution, I have found, can be rendered more effective for the purposesabove set out, by the addi- Applieatlon filed January 13, 1916. SerialNo. 71,998.

WESLEY Patented Feb.'1 1921.

SUPYOSIT ORY.

1' ,366,941 Specification of Letters Patent.

7 No Drawing.

.tion thereto of glycerin, glucose, acacia and other slmilar substanceswhich renders the coating tou h, pllable and more readily soluble By tese means, I have found that a coat n or covering can be produced for amedic nal substance containingoils or fats, wh1ch will com letely retainsuch substances and the 0115 an fats contained therein, thus malnng thefinished product in a form to be easily and conveniently handled andmarketed, pract1cally without regard to the surrounding temperature andat the same time susceptl le of convenient use by dissolution ofthecoating or covering upon contact with the body fluids for the releaseof the medici: nal substance contained within the coating or covering.

The suppositories or other medicinal products upon wh1ch such coating isto be used are molded lnto the required shape and, while cold, aredipped into the coating solut1on herein above-described which solutionshould be warmed to the proper temperature so as to be in a semi-liquidcondition for such dipplng. After one endhas been dipped, the coating isallowed to harden and the other end is then dipped into such solution,and this results in a continuous coating or covering of the suppositoryor medicinal substance employed of a kind and with the qualities asabove described.v

Having described my invention, what I claim 1s:

A supposltory composed of a vehicle for medicaments comprising a fattybody melt.

ing at body temperatures and having a coating thereon composed ofgelatin and an additional agent capable of imparting toughness andincreasing solubility to' the coating, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I, HARLEY WESLEY RHODEHAME have hereunto set my handat Indianapolis, Indiana, this 11th day of J anuary, A. D. one thousandnine hundred and sixteen.

HARLEY WESLEY RHODEHAMEL.

